Video conference calls have grown in popularity as the expense of video conferencing devices has decreased and the availability of broadband communication networks has increased. Businesses often prefer the more personal communication available through video conferences compared with telephone conferences, and also enjoy savings in travel costs while still having a personal presence among the participants that is not possible with audio only communications. The increased popularity of video conferencing has resulted in the deployment of video network devices in wide ranging disparate locations with the devices interfaced by business networks or the public network. Often, video calls involve the interfacing of video network devices manufactured by a variety of different manufacturers and using a variety of protocols and network communication interfaces.
As video network devices grow in number, the task of scheduling, monitoring and diagnosing problems of the devices grows in complexity. For instance, a single video network might interface with video end points, multi-call units (MCUs), and gateways each manufactured by different manufacturers and using different communication protocols. Each of these devices may include specific management, maintenance and monitoring needs that makes central management of a network difficult to accomplish.
One difficulty with management of video devices is establishing a uniform representation of the devices for use by management applications. Without a uniform means of communicating with different types of devices, management applications generally must be updated as devices on the video network are changed or reconfigured. Thus, video network operational staff is typically faced with a complex task of maintaining video networks by tracking changes to the network and updating management applications and devices on an individual basis. This increases the cost and complexity of video networks and also results in reduced reliability.